How I Ended Up Owning My Own Business

This is something I get asked about alot. People I meet or haven't seen in years are sometimes shocked when they ask what I do for work and to be honest ... so am I!

Owning a business, I don't think, was ever on my life agenda. Being self-employed possibly was but I just never saw myself as a 'boss'. An 'owner'. Or even an adult!
My situation wasn't something I saw coming, in fact it was a bloomin' shock and something I wasn't quite prepared for at the end of 2016.
I was given four weeks until I was going to be unemployed.  December was going to start, Christmas was coming and I wasn't going to have a job plus I was leaving for Florida in just a few months. Help. 
Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one in this position, having some amazing co-workers at the time we decided to band together and work out.... what the hell we were going to do!

Loving the job that we did, which was along the lines of PR & Social Media management/content creation, we were all at a loss of what to do other than that.

Could we go back to being a waitress or working in a shop? After finally doing a job we loved we all struggled to imagine being happy doing something full-time that we didn't enjoy as much.

This was the point we came to the decision that this wouldn't be the end, we were going to try and do this on our own. We were going to open our own business.
 *Queue nervous parents and partners....*

Tobi - Alice Cadet Hat*

New Look Borg Trucker Jacket

 ASOS Chunky Knit V Neck Jumper

ASOS Cross Body Camera Bag

Tobi - Liberty Camel Lace Up Skirt* 

Vans Black Old Skool Trainers

At the end of the day, we had nothing to lose. We were already going to be jobless, so we thought - heck! why not? We would never know if it would work unless we tried and we were determined to make this situation into a positive.

So there we sat, for hours upon hours on end (whilst still working our jobs full-time can I say) and we did it.
We miraculously created a business from nothing to opening in about 2-3 weeks. (This involved a lot of hair falling out, about 567 bags of popchips and only one meltdown... quite impressive really!)

Side note: For any of you maybe wondering about redundancy pay or anything, I was actually already self-employed so I was literally going to have nothing haha - 'the perils of being self-employed'... a possible blog post?

So what on earth do you have to do to create a business? Well, here's a few things had to tackle in a first month or so.

We had to choose a name - this was something that took us a long while. We had some hilarious suggestions which we now look back on and laugh at, a lot! But we settled with MOKU Communications - we wanted to ensure we covered the broad spectrum of services we offer (communications) and we also wanted a name that meant something to each of us.
As we are all from the Isle Of Wight and have grown up here we wanted a link to that. MOKU means Island in Hawaiian and we thought it fit perfectly! (until we realised we have to explain how to say it to everyone.... MO - KOO!) 

We had to get an accountant to help us set up own business and learn all about limited businesses/partnerships and the differences between each - I honestly went into this all clueless. 

With this we needed to get a bank account set up.... a two hour trip to the bank ensues...

A website, e-mail addresses, social media accounts, transferring hundreds of documents needed, creating a shared storage, new laptops, desks, chairs and everything else in between - this first month was intense and to be honest, I don't know how I didn't cry more!

Tobi - Alice Cadet Hat*

 ASOS Chunky Knit V Neck Jumper

Tobi - Liberty Camel Lace Up Skirt* 

Vans Black Old Skool Trainers

But... over 13 months later and even through the ups and major downs we have been through we are still going. 

Going strong and growing and growing each and every month - I'm so proud to be able to say I 'run a business' well, it's kind of crazy to be honest.

Yes, it comes with it's stresses and each month is different but it has been an amazing opportunity to have fallen in my lap and I am so grateful for how things have worked out.

GIRL BOSS.

Enjoy this? You may like: Why I Got A Second Job

*Items sent to me, not sponsored.